Epson ‘fools customers into buying new printers’

Epson is being investigated after a lawsuit was filed by Halte à l’Obsolescence Programmée (Stop Planned Obsolescence), an environmental association that claims that printer manufacturers breach French lawROSLAN RAHMAN/GETTY IMAGES

Prosecutors in France are investigating allegations that Epson fools consumers into replacing perfectly good printers.

The Japanese printer maker is the first company to be investigated under a 2015 law that made it a criminal offence to “reduce deliberately the lifespan of a product to increase the rate of replacement”.

The legislation placed France in the forefront of the fight against planned obsolescence — the allegedly widespread practice of programming electrical and other goods to stop working.

The inquiry into Epson comes after Apple apologised for slowing down its phones but refuted claims that it was shortening their lifespans.